Pleasington Priory

Pleasington Priory
Church of St Mary and St John Baptist
Pleasington Priory from the southeast
Pleasington Priory
Location in Blackburn with Darwen
Coordinates: 53°44′06″N 2°32′34″W / 53.7350°N 2.5429°W / 53.7350; -2.5429
OS grid reference SD 643,266
Location Pleasington, Lancashire
Country England
Denomination Roman Catholic
Architecture
Heritage designation Grade I
Designated 24 November 1966
Architect(s) John Palmer
Architectural type Church
Style Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking 1816
Completed 1819
Construction cost £23,000
Specifications
Materials Ashlar, slate roofs
Administration
Diocese Salford

Pleasington Priory, or the Church of St Mary and St John Baptist, is a Roman Catholic church in the village of Pleasington, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[1] The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as being "an astonishing church",[2] and the citation in the National Heritage List for England states it is an "exceptional form of Catholic chapel for the period before Emancipation".[1]

History

The church was built between 1816 and 1819 as a thank offering by John Francis Butler at a cost of £23,000 (£1.6 million as of 2018),[3] the architect being John Palmer and the sculptor Thomas Owen.[1]

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in ashlar with slate roofs. It is a large, tall church with mixed Gothic styles. Its plan consists of a five-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, and a polygonal apse. Entry to the church is at the west through a three-order portal above which are three statues on corbels.[1] On the underside of the middle corbel is a bust of John Butler in military uniform.[2] Above the statue is a carved arch, then a small parapet and a large rose window, and a gable with an openwork parapet surmounted by a crocketed cross. At each side of the portal is an octagonal turret with a three-stage pinnacle. Outside the turrets are offices, each with a niche containing on one side the name of the architect and on the other the sculptor. The aisles have five five-light windows and are battlemented; the clerestory has triple lancet windows and an openwork parapet. The apse has tall, five-light, Perpendicular windows. On the south side is a priest's door.[1]

Interior

The ceiling is rib vaulted with carved bosses and there are four-bay arcades with dogtooth decoration. On each side of the altar is a carved relief, one showing the Beheading of St John, the other Mary Magdalene.[1]

External features

The churchyard contains the war graves of eight service personnel of the First World War, and nine of the Second World War.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic England, "Roman Catholic Church of St Mary and St John the Baptist, Pleasington (1072419)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 10 June 2012
  2. 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1969], North Lancashire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 190–191, ISBN 0-300-09617-8
  3. ↑ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  4. ↑ PLEASINGTON PRIORY (SS. MARY AND JOHN THE BAPTIST) ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 18 February 2013

Further reading

  • Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], Lancashire: North, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. 503–504, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9
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